Back off. Jenny was coming too close to her. She forced herself to go back to working on the depth markers on the reconstruction. “Then wait a little longer, Jenny. We’re getting there. Just a little longer…”
* * *
The lights were burning bright in the cottage even though it was after midnight.
Walsh didn’t dare get closer to the cottage than these trees across the lake, and it was filling him with frustration. But Joe Quinn had been out in the woods twice tonight, and he couldn’t risk it. He’d read Quinn’s dossier, and an ex-SEAL wasn’t going to be taken by surprise like that deputy. He’d have to wait for an opportunity.
As he’d have to wait for the opportunity to go after Eve Duncan. But time was running out. She might be getting close.
Walsh could imagine that Duncan bitch sitting working on that damn skull and making that kid’s face come alive again. Damn Nalchek. Any other small-town sheriff would have just let that skeleton be reburied somewhere and eventually filed the paperwork and let the little girl be forgotten.
But Eve Duncan wasn’t going to let her be forgotten.
So Eve Duncan would have to be removed.
* * *
“Okay, here we go.” Eve could feel the tension grip her muscles as she stared at the reconstruction. “I’ve done all the prep work I can. It’s time we started working together on this.”
No answer.
“Listen, Jenny, this isn’t the time for you to opt out. Help me.”
No answer.
Ignore the rejection and hope she would come in later.
Smooth the clay.
Such a small skull.
So delicate …
She had to be sensitive, gentle.
No mistakes.
She let the tips of her fingers move of their own volition.
Help me, Jenny.
The clay was cool … no, it was warmer now. As warm as her own fingers moving, molding.
Nose?
It had to be generic.
Instinct. Just use instinct.
Mouth.
Generic again. She’d measured the width but had to guess at the shape. A child’s mouth, sensitive, because Jenny was so sensitive.
Eyes. So very difficult. No measurements, very few scientific indicators. Okay, study the shape and the angle of the orbits. That angle and the bony ridge above it would help her decide the shape. Keep them in mind but don’t do the eyes yet. It always made her excited to see the eyes staring at her, and she might hurry the rest of the process.
Do the cheeks.
Fill in.
Smooth.
The other cheek.
Smooth.
She was going too fast. Slow down. Measurements were still important. Check them.
Nose width. Okay.
Lip height. Okay. No, bring the top lip down. It’s usually thinner than the bottom.
There’s a major muscle around the mouth, build it up.
But Jenny was a child and would have a child’s fullness.
No, thin face.
Where had that come from? It didn’t matter if it was instinct or Jenny.
Just go with it.
Mold.
Smooth.
Fill in.
Her hands were flying over that small face now.
Deepen.
Mold.
Smooth.
Fill in.
The chin.
More pointed.
Smooth.
Brows.
Winged.
Odd. Why?
Just do it.
Slow down. Her hands were too feverish.
No, they aren’t.
Go ahead.
Smooth.
Mold.
Fill in.
But there was only a little more to fill in.
Smooth it.
Mold?
No, just the smoothing.
Fast.
Sure.
Let it come.
Let her come.
Blinding speed. Her heart was beating hard.
The reconstruction was only a blur.
Finished.
She leaned back, and her hands dropped away from the skull.
Only it wasn’t a skull any longer.
It was Jenny.
No, not yet.
She reached into the drawer and drew out her eye case.
Eyes.
Jenny had to have eyes.
Eve looked down at the glass eyeballs. She usually chose brown, they were the most common.
She started to reach for them.
“Green.”
Eve stopped. “Now you appear. I could have used a little more help, Jenny.”
“I tried to help. It was hard to remember … It’s not important here where I am now.”
“Well, it’s still important to me.” She took the green eyes from the case. “And it’s important to Sheriff Nalchek.” She paused. “And it may be important to the person who put you in that grave.”
“But you did pretty well without me, didn’t you? You must be very smart, Eve.”
“Flattery? You must be fairly smart yourself, Jenny.” She was inserting the right eye carefully in the right cavity. “Green eyes are very noticeable. That might help. Who did you take after? Your mother or your father?”
“I don’t know. They’re not … I don’t remember.”
Distress. Veer away from the pain she sensed. “It doesn’t matter.” She inserted the other eyeball and smoothed the clay around the orbital cavity. “What’s important is that the eyes might trigger a memory that—”
She broke off and inhaled sharply.
Finished. The reconstruction was completely finished.
And the full impact of the work that she’d just done hit home to her.
“Jenny?”
She reached out and gently touched the cheek of the sculpture. She almost expected it to be warm with life. The little girl’s expression seemed to radiate vitality and enthusiasm. Even those wide-set green eyes seemed to glow with a kind of wonder in that small, triangular face. Pointed chin, high cheekbones, and winged brows gave the child an elfin quality. But it was the vitality, the wonder, that held Eve spellbound.
And some monster had killed this?
She cleared her throat to ease its tightness. “Perhaps you helped me more than either one of us thought, Jenny. I believe you must have been a very special little girl. I’d bet you enjoyed every minute of your life. I’m sorry you don’t remember more of it.”
“I don’t have to remember. The joy has been with me while I was waiting. The most important thing I got to take with me.”
“What thing?”
“Why, the music, Eve. It’s still part of me. It’s still here.”
“Music? What do you mean, Jenny?”
No answer.
“Okay, I guess I shouldn’t expect more than one breakthrough at a time.” She wearily rubbed the back of her neck. “And tonight I got a big one. I have a face. Tomorrow, I’ll take photos and run it through my computer program for any matches. The program isn’t as extensive as FBI and police databases, but I might get lucky.”
“You’re happy. I like to see you like this.”
“I did my job, and I came up with one great product. It gives me a sense of satisfaction to know what you look like. It’s like solving a mystery. Now I know to whom I’m talking.”
“It’s not only because of what happened to me?”
“No, a whisper from the great beyond is better than nothing, but I’m a visual person.” She looked back at the reconstruction. “You know, sometimes I don’t even do brows but you must have been insistent.” She got to her feet and arched her back. “And now I’m going to shower and go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” She had a sudden thought. “Or not. Maybe you’ll disappear now that I’ve finished your reconstruction.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Oh.” Why did she feel this relief? “You and the music?”
“You’re smiling. I’m sorry I can’t explain about the music. It’s just that—”
“You don’t have to explain anything unless you want to. We’re just ships that pass in the night. I don’t have to know. You’ve been hurt, and you’re in a place I can’t possibly understand.”
“Ships that pass … I don’t think so, Eve.”